Our Mother, Our Father, Our Context, Our Creativity

Note: This is a reprint of an article originally written by the late Dr. Charles E. Reichel, Executive Director, National Creative Society. His words continue to speak to us.

Wow! It's Super Bowl XLII Sunday Night, 2008. The results are in.

I just saw Eli Manning accept the MVP trophy for leading the New York Giants to this year's Super Bowl title. Last year his older brother Peyton had led his team to the same title and stood center-stage. Tonight we caught glimpses, during the game, of Peyton and mom and dad cheering-on (and undoubtedly praying-on) Eli and team.

One thing, for certain: the family provided the context for their boys' content and it was not the first time they were cheering (and praying) them on!

My thoughts turned to my own life-work and our family-generating time that had us in Oxford, Mississippi and Ole Miss during the seminal years of dad Archie's magical and mythical career. Archie even inspired a juke-box song (played in many a restaurant and road-house) during his days as the UM quarterback; when mom Olivia was the homecoming queen. To say the least, we learned a lot about the culture of SEC football in those days---living just across the highway from the Ole Miss campus,

One thing, for certain: in that cultural context, football was king and tail-gating parties an art form!

Since then, especially in recent years, with Peyton and Eli coming to maturity and increasing prominence, the public has been allowed glimpses into the Manning family and the individual uniqueness of each of the three boys and their relationships to their parents. We've seen some early home movies of the family, heard some homely stories of wholesome sibling rivalry, and learned of each of their sons closer identification with one or the other of the parents. For instance, Eli, the quieter of the two, is a self-identified "momma's boy." Mother Olivia apparently reported to Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi, "Eli gets his calm from my mother. He is different from Peyton."

One thing, for certain: each of our children is unique and recognizing and encouraging that uniqueness is itself a most vital parenting skill.

At a recent, October planning meeting for the Georgia Thespian Conference, I was gifted by some post-presentation discussion with several parents. It became much clearer to me, then, that, we parents, have the highest investment in and passion for nurturing the "spark of creation" in our children. (See my next article for clarification of that reference.) It became very clear also, that for chapters of the National Creative Society to flourish and grow in number, that parent involvement as "boosters", chapter advisors, models, and mentors would be essential.

One thing, for certain: young artists seeking to bring and express their beauty through the visual and performance arts and creative writing need a cultural equivalent of "tail-gating" celebrations. Parents are vital to catalyze a great context for their children's content by cheering them (and praying them) on-also by creating some cultural tail-gating circles in your own community's equivalent of the Ole Miss "grove."

The National Creative Society looks forward to partnering with parents and advisors to form new chapters in that mission, for reasons of beauty-bringing to our communities and helping our children's "soul-purpose"-- more than their fame. Please join us! In celebration-one parent with another!

With carefulness and creativity,
Charles E. Reichel